My invention relates generally to post-surgical appliances and more particularly to an appliance for safely and easily moving a person's leg encased in a surgical cast.
A person whose leg is encased in a cast following surgery or other medical treatment of the leg is usually unable by him or herself to move the leg from one position to another, especially if the cast extends from the thigh to the foot. Whether the person is lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair, assistance from a nurse or another person is necessary to move the encased leg from one position to a hopefully more comfortable or convenient position.
So far as I am aware there is no known appliance or assembly available which will permit the person whose leg is encased in a thigh-to-foot surgical cast to move his or her leg from one position to another without outside help.
It is an object of my invention to provide a self-manipulatable appliance or assembly for moving a person's leg encased in a cast.
A further object of my invention is to provide a simple and safe appliance which can easily be attached to a thigh-to-foot cast to enable the person to move his or her leg and cast without outside assistance.
Put most simply, my invention for self movement of a person's leg encased in a cast is an assembly made up of three components. First, a strap of flexible but nonstretchable material such as denim or sailcloth preferably about three inches wide and four feet in length. This first strap should have a closed loop on each end. Next, two identical flexible straps preferably made of or with loop and hook self-locking sections. These two straps may be about an inch wide and about three or more feet in length.
To install the assembly, one of the two straps of self-locking material is fitted through one of the closed loops of the first strap and wrapped around the thigh portion of the leg cast. Then the second strap of self-locking material is fitted through the closed loop in the other end of the first strap and wrapped around the ankle portion of the leg cast.
The length of the first strap between the thigh portion and the ankle portion of the cast is somewhat greater than the distance between the two cast-encircling straps, so that the first strap becomes a "handle" which can be grasped by the person's hand to use the power of his arm to move his leg and cast from one position to another without outside assistance.